As Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) celebrates its 100th anniversary as the birthplace of naval aviation maintenance this year, it will also note the command's onset of service to a new variant of the venerable E-2 Hawkeye: The E-2D.
Developed to replace the Navy's existing E-2C airborne early warning system aircraft, the E-2D is the fourth variant and manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The aircraft completed its maiden flight in 2007, and three years later, the first E-2D was delivered to the Navy. In 2015, the aircraft concluded its first operational tour aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
Technologically superior to its predecessors, the E-2D is equipped with a radar featuring electronic and mechanical scanning capability, an integrated glass tactical cockpit, and advanced tactical workstations and mission computer.
FRCSW inducted its first E-2D in August 2018, and a second aircraft in November 2018. Both belong to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120 (VAW-120) and will be returned to them when service is complete.
FRCSW performs two levels of scheduled maintenance on the airframe: a light periodic maintenance interval one (PMI-1) which is done at FRCSW Site Pt Mugu and FRC Mid-Atlantic, and PMI-2, or a heavy maintenance, at Naval Air Station North Island.
FRCSW is the Navy's sole provider of PMI-2 events on the E-2 airframe, and the 80 artisans assigned to the E-2 program will add the maintenance of the E-2D alongside the existing E-2C workload in Building 460.
PMI is based upon a 96-month cycle: PMI-1 completed every 48 months, followed by PMI-2 48 months later.
"PMI-1 is a much smaller event with about a 45-day turn-around time (TAT)," said E-2 deputy program manager Chris Crawford. "We look at only specific areas of the aircraft, mainly the tail, so we don't disassemble that much of the plane. We look for corrosion, cracks, mechanical and electrical issues."
Though not a complete overhaul, PMI-2 is a major disassembly of the aircraft to the fuselage. Artisans remove the aircrafts wings, engines, landing gear and tail. The aircraft's corrosion preventive paint is removed and an in-depth metal assessment is performed targeting cracks, corrosion, exfoliation and other surface anomalies.
"We'll take care of any repairs we find within the scope of the specification and anything outside of that we ask the customers if they want us to fix and do an in-service repair (ISR)," Crawford said. "ISRs are funded separately, but normally completed during the PMI."
Crawford said that the estimated PMI-2 TAT is 220 days, and like the E-2C, the event is conducted under the Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) program.
CCPM is a project management method that designates resources, like people and equipment, needed to complete a task in a specific amount of time. Concerto is a software program used to manage multiple CPPM projects. The E-2 CCPM is divided into four procedures (induction, repair, assembly, and testline) each with a specific completion time.
Crawford said that the command anticipates six to eight E-2Ds inducted annually for PMI-2 once the program is in full swing.
"Our flow and induction schedule should still be the same, well just see the E-2Cs replaced by the 2-Ds. Were in the middle of a `sundown plan for the E-2C now," he said.